IU's Marching Hundred to perform at Super Bowl XLVI

UPDATE:Want to watch Indiana University's Marching Hundred practice for its appearance at Super Bowl XLVI? Come to the band's dress rehearsal for its pre-game performance from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at John Mellencamp Pavilion, just south of the Indiana 45/46 Bypass and in the same area as Memorial Stadium and Assembly Hall.

Band director David Woodley said he learned the news recently but didn't reveal it until the band's year-end banquet on Dec. 5.

"There were lots of high-fives, lots of clapping and cheering," he said. "It's overwhelming. I don't think any of us have had a chance to process it quite yet. To have the chance to do something like the Super Bowl, just out of the blue like this, is so amazing."

Woodley said the band will perform as part of the pre-game entertainment and will march what he described as a "full field show" to entertain fans in the stands during a network commercial break.

All of the approximately 300 members of the Marching Hundred will be given the chance to perform at the Super Bowl, even those who graduate in December.

"As long as they marched this year, we definitely want them to be there," Woodley said. "It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity none of us will ever forget."

He said the Marching Hundred will review its shows from the year in order to select the music it will perform at the Super Bowl, which could include traditional favorite "Sing, Sing, Sing."

Super Bowl XLVI will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Feb. 5.

Indiana University's Marching Hundred, an ensemble of the Jacobs School of Music, dates back to 1896. The band's appearances have included the Kentucky Derby (1939), the Presidential Inaugural Parade (1953), the Rose Bowl (1968), the Holiday Bowl (1979), the All-American Bowl (1986), the Peach Bowl (1988 and 1990), the Liberty Bowl (1988), the Copper Bowl (1991), the Independence Bowl (1993) and the Insight Bowl (2007).

In 2007, the Marching Hundred received the Sudler Intercollegiate Marching Band Trophy, the nation's highest and most coveted award for college and university marching bands.

Earlier this week, the university announced a $1 million gift from university alumnus Col. Jack I. Hamlin (BS '43) and Dora Hamlin that will help construct a new practice facility for the Marching Hundred.